Media 'Sensationalised' Gorakhpur Deaths, Says CM Yogi Adityanath

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that a large section of media had reported wrong figures. "The day a media house reported 60 deaths, only 11 deaths had occurred. One should understand that there is a vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis, but there is no vaccine for Encephalitis," he said.

A file photo of one of the general wards at the BRD college.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has lashed out at media for "unnecessarily sensationalising" deaths of more than 60 children at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College. In an exclusive interview to News18, on the completion of six months of his government in UP, Adityanath said that those deaths were unfortunate and nobody should politicise them.

Adityanath said that a large section of media had reported wrong figures. "The day a media house reported 60 deaths, only 11 deaths had occurred. One should understand that there is a vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis, but there is no vaccine for Encephalitis," he said.

The chief minister said that the primary reason behind Encephalitis was the unhygienic atmosphere, adding, "The deaths were linked incorrectly with oxygen-shortage by media."

“No one reported that our government has provided Encephalitis vaccine to lakhs of children. The fact is that this year the figure of deaths due to Encephalitis is almost half in comparison to previous years. The data is there for everyone to see how many deaths occurred at BRD Hospital due to Encephalitis in the last few years. Our government is just six months old, and we are working rapidly to improve the infrastructure of the state which also includes medical facilities. I am sure in the coming years this mortality rate will go down for sure,” he said.

On August 10 this year, first reports of children deaths started trickling in. At least 63 children lost their lives at Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur, CM Adityanath's home constituency.

It was alleged that oxygen supplier had cut off the gas supply after the state government failed to repay a debt of more than Rs 60 lakh. The official report by the chief secretary, however, denied there was a shortage of oxygen in the hospital.